Method and apparatus for an electronic collaborative education process model

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus is provided for facilitating education operations. A portable processor-based apparatus is provided which is used by a student and his or her parents. The portable device is adapted to releasably couple with a cradle which is maintained at least in the school environment. The portable unit may be coupled through the cradle to a school network. The portable unit may be utilized by the student, parents, and teacher to perform a number of specific school related activities including a presentation of course materials; the assignment, completion and return of homework assignments; the maintenance of school records; and digital communication between or among the student, teacher, and parents. The device preferably includes biometric security systems which limit the access to both the device and data maintained in the device or in the school network.

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No.60/151,241 filed Aug. 27, 1999.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The method and apparatus of the present invention relates, when employedin the USA, to K-12 (kindergarten through graduation from high school)education. By expanding or including the student into the communicationsdirected to the parent/guardian (or even completely replacing the“parent roll” with that of the adult student), the invention isapplicable to two (2) year associate and four (4) year undergraduateprograms as well as trade schools and other educational/traininginstitutions.

BACKGROUND ART

In the United States of America, one of the founding principles of ourRepublic has been to provide the best public education possible to theyoung citizens and residents of our country. Over the past five decades,the importance of public education to our national security, socialwell-being, competitiveness and economic health has been underlinednumerous times by our presidents and other leaders. From the “Sputnikpanic” of the 1950's, the “math gap” of the 1960's, the “Nation at Risk”Report of the 1980's through presidential initiatives to “connect everyclassroom in America to the Internet” during the 1990's, the importanceof making public schools as productive, efficient and effective remainsa paramount social, political and economic issue. Some say the veryexistence and continuance of our democratic institutions will depend onan ever-more educated and computer-literate society in the future.

Given this importance to our society and the nation, few revolutionaryinnovations in the way public education is actually conducted have beenmade, despite tremendous advances in technology and communications. Manypublic schools have web-pages and Internet/Intranet connectivity. Someeven have video conferencing, distance learning and videobroadcast/streaming capabilities. Hundreds of thousands of new desk topcomputers have been added to campus computer labs and now even into theclassrooms themselves. In some states students are issued relativelyexpensive notebook computers that they can take home, but suchinitiatives have been both isolated and sporadic, at best.

The typical K-12 school in America today works in the following way: Atthe beginning of the school year, parents or legal guardians mustphysically go to the local school campus and appear at the school'soffice and “register” their child in order for him or her to be able toattend class. Normally a paper registration form is given to the parentsby the school's clerk, which is then filled-out and signed by theparents. This form normally provides basic information about the student(home address, d.o.b., last school attended, immunizations, etc.) andinformation pertaining to the parents/guardians (work numbers, emergencynumbers, etc.). The paper document is then filed by the school clerkeither manually or some or all of the data is input into a schoolcomputer database either at the campus or centrally at the districtadministration offices.

If the student is a “returning student” then his or her “permanentrecord” (normally a paper file stored in a filing cabinet) is pulled bythe school clerk, the new forms are added and all is re-filed (returnedto the filing cabinet). It the student is transferring from anotherschool district or state school system, then often a phone call willsuffice to fax or mail “everything” in the student's permanent record(paper file) from the previous school. Protocols for “who is authorized”to request the transfer of the student's permanent record vary greatlyfrom school district and state. However, it is obvious that theopportunity for incomplete records to follow the child from district todistrict and state to state is very great. Health records, disciplinarywrite-ups, special testing results (gifted and talented, specialeducation, outside professional evaluations) are often not transferredto other schools, for various reasons, not the least of which are“privacy concerns”.

Once in the classroom, the student's attendance, tardiness or absence isnoted on an attendance sheet by the teacher and sent to the school'soffice. The student's daily performance is recorded by the teacherusually still in a paper file. Summary grades are sent to the office ona regular periodic basis. Periodic “report cards” (issued usually everysix or nine weeks) are little more than summary information about thestudent's attendance, behavior and scholastic performance. One or bothof the student's parents or legal guardians must sign the report card inink to “certify” their receipt and review of the information. The cardis thus first delivered by the student to the parents and then returnedby the student to the teacher after the parent's signature.

The latest “craze” in public schools in this country is the schoolproviding on-line “progress reports” on the Internet, accessible to astudent's parents by password and log-in. But again, such simplisticapproaches are limited and applicable to only those parents withknowledge of and access to personal computers and the Internet: hardly auniversally fair, equitable or workable solution for this or any othercountry's public schools.

Seldom is there any formal, consistent daily communication betweenteacher and parents. The current education system usually reports only“history” rather than “news” relating to the parents' child.Interventions on the student's behalf (i.e. detecting dyslexia,attention deficit syndrome, other physical and/or emotional,disciplinary and/or health challenges) are usually slow to occur anddifficult to coordinate (i.e. the school nurse collaborating with thestudent's teacher, parents, counselor, and personal physician regardinga potential hearing problem possibly being the root cause of the studentrecently having been disciplined for “not paying attention in class”).

In order to facilitate a more consistent and sustainable daily flow ofinformation with students and their parents, some classroom teachersemploy an “assignment book”, usually a spiral notebook in which theteacher may make notes specifically to the student's parents aboutspecific assignments or specific needs of the student, and/or theparents can write specific questions or provide information to theteacher regarding their child's participation in the classroom,including excused absences.

An example of this interchange, for example, would be the “assignmentbook” entry from the teacher to the parents that “Johnny” has not beenhanding in his homework on time for the past few weeks. Johnny's parentsare thus alerted of a potential problem and can “intervene” in a timelybasis in the home or request to meet with the teacher/counselor todiscuss the problem. The request for such a meeting is also made by theparents noting a request in the “assignment book”, which theteacher/counselor would likewise initial (thus “certifying” thecommunication) and stating the time and date of the requestedappointment with Johnny's parents. Of course Johnny can read all this“written” traffic back and forth between his parents and his teacher.

Clearly such written assignment book based communications are neitherprivate nor secure. The student can read everything being written abouthim or her by either the parents or the teacher at anytime. Often theability to provide information candidly might be more effective indealing with the social or academic challenges of the student. Such asystem also assumes a certain level of reading and writing ability onthe part of the parents.

Furthermore, with class size in the US often exceeding a ratio of 20+students per teacher, clearly such a handwritten-based system causes anadditional workload and burden on the teacher that is barely supportablewith the best of intentions. It is difficult to sustain such a systemmanually. Each book must be updated daily “by hand” by the teacher, andtherefore these communications often become too brief to be meaningfulor useful to the parents.

Some propose to simply expand the use e-mail to facilitate thecommunications between educators, student and parents. Such simplisticapproaches are being attempted by school districts nationwide in thiscountry and in other progressive societies around the world. Thisapproach as a “universal” solution in public education is flawed anddead ends quickly. In order to truly be an education process model thataddresses the needs of all a nation's children, an e-mail based solutionmust assume access to a computer and access to the Internet both existin 100% of its students' homes. That simply is not the case in thiscountry, nor is it a goal obtainable by the vast majority of countriesin the world for decades to come, if ever.

Also e-mail based systems that simply use “passwords” to “identify” therecipient of information and communications are not secure, as people inthe same household historically are casual about religiously keepingsuch information confidential (i.e. the parent's school password kept ona post-it note underneath the keyboard, or one spouse yelling to theother spouse that's in the shower “honey, do you remember our schoolaccess password?”, would be little surprise for any of us). Biometricsoffers the only practical and realistic method of “certifying” who isaccessing, sending or just reading information. The present inventionemploys such biometric certification in all interactions securely.

For example, in most schools today, if the student is to go on a fieldtrip, a permission slip is sent home with the child for the parent tosign. How many “attempted forgeries” by little hands have taken place isnot known. However, with the present invention, the acceptance ordeclining of “Bobby's field trip” would not be left to such obvioustemptations to go around a disapproving parent or guardian. The“permission slip” delivered to the parent via e-mail would be eveneasier to “forge” if the child had somehow gotten knowledge of theparent's password. And again, any such e-mail-based education processmodel would unfairly exclude less fortunate families that have neither ahome computer nor Internet access.

However, none of these “technological advances”, from schools issuingnotebook computers, to parent's buying desk top computers for the homeor schools buying them for use in computer labs or in the classroom, towriting e-mail messages or posting information on the school's web site,no one advance or all together have fundamentally altered the parent,student, teacher, administrator communications, interaction andcoordination capabilities “universally” in public schools. It is fine tohave lunch menus and PTA meetings posted on the school web-page, butthat does nothing regarding a specific student, with his or her specificeducational issues and needs. It is fine to set up “collaborative”e-mail based forums between teacher and parents on the web, but stillthe majority of parents of school aged children still do not have accessto the Internet or even a computer in the home. Conversion to such anoverall education model nationally or even on a state level would beexclusionary; ignoring the children who often need coordinated effortsand help from educators the most; namely, the underprivileged child.

So amazingly, despite all the technological advances in virtually allother sectors of society, the fundamental “public education processmodel” and the devices employed have changed very little in the past 40years. With the exception of an occasional computer lab, a little e-mailtraffic and lunch menus being posted on the Internet (and maybe a metaldetector at the door and even armed security guards) a student orteacher of 40 years ago would be as much “at home” with the proceduresand educational devices used in the classroom of the year 2000 as theywere in the classroom of the 1960's:

In this country, for the most part, school announcements are still madeon the campus intercom, school bells ring in the hallways, studentscarry heavy paper textbooks, ring binders, satchels (now in “backpackform”). Teachers still “call roll”, student's say “here” and theteachers place the paper attendance slips outside their classroom doorsto be picked up (hopefully by the right “assisting student”) and carriedto the office. Occasionally the teacher sends a handwritten note to thestudent's parents (which may or may not make it to them) and summarypaper report cards come out every six or nine weeks delivering just “ahistory of” rather than actual “current news about” the student'sacademic performance, social behavior and activities. It's back to thefuture all over again. Not for a lack of effort or commitment bydedicated teachers and administrators, but for lack of a fundamentaltransformation of the education process model and devices made availableto them. Strapping rocket engines onto a horse and buggy will not resultin a quantum improvement in public transportation. Issuing a fewnotebook computers here and there and sending e-mails to parents who mayor may not have home Internet access will not result in a quantumimprovement in universal public education, either.

Internationally, public education varies greatly in both theinfrastructure available to students and teachers and the resourcesapplied to public schools. One fact, however, is “universally” acceptedby virtually all nations regarding educating their young: they need thevery best education possible in order for them to be competitive in theglobal economy and for their people to excel as a whole.

It is in the interests of the entire international community, thisnation and all nations, therefore, that quantum advances be made in theeffectiveness and efficiency of public education throughout the world.There is as great a need (if not greater) for an education process modelto be implemented worldwide that will transform the educationalexperience and opportunities for the children in the dusty streets ofNew Delhi, the ghetto's of South Africa, the most isolated pueblito ofMexico or rural Native American Reservation, as there is for such atransformation in New York City or London. The need to dramaticallyimprove and transform public education's effectiveness knows noboundaries: geographic, political, cultural or economic.

The “content” of what is taught in a given nation's public schools must,of course, remain with the individual countries concerned, reflectingthe social, cultural, political, national, linguistic, and artisticheritage and priorities of “the people”. Rather, it is regarding howpublic education is facilitated, delivered and managed that the presentinvention seeks to transform . . . thus making the learning experiencemore rewarding for all children; from Manhattan to Mexico City, fromCapetown to Copenhagen.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a method and apparatus for effectuating a trueElectronic Collaborative K-12 Education Process Model, bringing togetherparents, student, teachers and school administrative staff (principals,counselors, district, state, national and international educationadministrators and other professionals) to form a Team EducationCommunity (TEC) employing a collaborative approach to virtually allaspects of learning and teaching. The present invention is meant to bedeployed initially in the United States of America K-12 public schoolsector, but is applicable to public and private schools internationally,as well. By modifying the parent component to include an “adultstudent”, the present invention is applicable to two (2) year associateand four (4) year undergraduate programs and even trade school and otherspecialized education/training institutions.

The present invention facilitates the entire mechanics of the K-12(kindergarten through graduation from high school, in US parlance)interactivity between parents, students, teachers and administrators atall national, state, district, school campus and classroom levels. Theability for this interaction to take place internationally, where agreedto by sovereign nations, is also fully facilitated by the presentinvention, including provisions for an International EducationInformation Clearinghouse of “shared and reported” data betweenparticipating nations.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus for interaction between allthese parties will be the electronic slate, hereafter referred to simplyas the “e-Slate”: a relatively lightweight portable computer-baseddevice that includes a touch-screen display, a biometric identificationsecurity device for certification of actions in the collaborativeprocess, a built-in speaker and microphone for audio recording andplayback and an array of specialized collaborative, interactive,localized tutorial content, communications software and other educationspecific applications.

In the classroom (and optionally at home) a docking station, the e-Slate“Cradle” provides access to other network resources (printers, scanners,modems, routers, etc.) as well as Internet connectivity.

The e-Slate will act as an electronic textbook, writing tabletandcourseware delivery device for both on-line or off-line collaborative or“distance” learning applications (having both video real-time andplayback capabilities). In an optimal implementation it is envisionedthat e-Slates would be issued to all students, teachers andadministrators in the TEC along with an e-Slate “Cradle” hereafterreferred to as the “e-Cradle,” which will facilitate the ability in thehome for hard copy printing and a full-sized modular QWERTY keyboardwhich could be localized for local languages with a Spanish, Russian,French, German, style keyboard. The e-Slate Cradle would also offer avariety of additional peripherals ranging from a larger video screens(for easier viewing), a computer mouse, optional video (net) camera, aswell as an Internet/Intranet interface device (high speed modem, WANnetwork card or wireless device), CD or DVD players, scanners and otherperipherals.

The present invention also provides a process model for licensing,manufacturing, distributing and tracking e-Slates internationally. Theinventor's vision is for these devices to be licensed for manufacture(or at least assembly) locally throughout the world for each country'sdomestic public school sector. It is possible that certain components ofthe e-Slate and e-Slate Cradle could be made out of local materials bylocal manufacturers in even less developed countries (the body of thee-Slate Cradle being molded out of recycled car tires in Brazil orBangladesh, for example). This would serve to cut costs and distribute“technology-based” employment and opportunities worldwide. Expandinglocal manufacture to include local software development and supportwould also serve to facilitate the full “localization” of e-Slates toaccommodate local languages, writing systems, curricula, and contentthrough local third party software and content developers. Localhardware maintenance companies would also participate and benefit.

Further, the present invention includes a process and method by whichthe e-Slate can be used as an ancillary tutoring device to assiststudents in redundant, but fundamental skill's enhancement exercisessuch as handwriting, spelling, and math. Because of the wide diversityof languages and character sets (“alphabets”) used globally, it isenvisioned that the use of local third party software developers andcurriculum authors would modify and or develop and support thesetutorial programs for their local community. Putting these criticalaspects of the present invention in the hands of local educators,technicians and curriculum development professionals will help insurethat sensitively to cultural, linguistic and ethnic considerations willbe properly taken into account for each specific geographic area.

Finally, the present invention includes a data structure and processmodel for an international collaboration, exchange of, access to andsharing of information between national education clearinghouses usingthe e-Slate devices and methodology. Such voluntary cooperation between“sovereign nations” is mandatory for the “emerging global economy” tothrive for all peoples of the world. As more and more people becomeskilled and better trained, they tend to become more mobile and able tomigrate, short term or long term, to better employment and economicopportunities throughout the globe. They take their children with themand hence the need to facilitate the efficient electronic exchange ofinformation regarding public school records and students will onlycontinue to grow.

The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantageswill become apparent in the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself however, as well as apreferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, willbest be understood by reference to the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A is a block diagram representation of the flow of data andqueries between international and national education informationclearinghouses, reporting entities, and inquiring entities.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram representation of an exemplary international,national, state, regional, district, and local school topology.

FIG. 1C is a simplified pictorial representation of a plurality ofmultidimensional e-slate datasets.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of an international educationinformation clearinghouse.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representation of a participating country'snational education information clearinghouse.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a regional school's central databank.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram representation of a local school district'scentral databank.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram representation of a local school's e-Slatesnetwork.

FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation of an exemplary e-Slate device inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the interior components of an exemplarye-Slate device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram depiction of the preferred components of ane-Slate cradle.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram representation of an e-Board in accordancewith the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram representation of a local school e-Slateclassroom.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram representation of the optimal use of ane-Slate by either a student or parents in a home environment, assumingthat the home has electrical power and wide area network access.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram representation of the basic use of an e-Slatedevice by either the student or parents in a home environment which hasno home electrical power or wide area network access.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram representation of the combined use of thee-Slatedevice and a translucent velum overlay for light box writingtutorials.

FIG. 15 is a pictorial representation of the e-Slate device with thehandwriting tutorial overlay.

FIG. 16 is a pictorial representation of an e-Slate with a spellingtutorial overlay.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart representation of the issuance of an e-Slatedevice to a student during a registration process at a school campus.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representation of the registration process at thesame school campus in additional years.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representation of the process utilized to replacelost or stolen e-Slates devices during a school year.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart representation of the process utilized for thetransfer of a student during a school year, taking the e-Slate with himor her.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart representation of the utilization of an e-Slatefor student classroom attendance-taking purposes.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart representation of the updating of the e-Slatedata.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart representation of a parent's use of a student'se-Slate at home in an off-line mode of operation.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart representation of a student's use of the e-Slateat home in an off-line mode of operation.

FIG. 25 is the flowchart representation of a teacher's use of thee-Slate at home in an off-line mode of operation.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram representation of the licensing, manufacture,distribution, issuance, and tracking of e-Slate devices.

FIG. 27 is the flowchart representation of the preferred process oftracking the replacement of lost or stolen e-Slate devices.

FIGS. 28A and 28B are representations of the flow of data recordtransactions from a licensing authority's validation master file,concerning a single exemplary e-Slate.

FIG. 29 is a representation of record transactions from a licensingauthority's validation master file, concerning several exemplarystudents.

FIG. 30 is an exemplary depiction of the structure and componentscomprising school entity codes and student ID's of the examples used inFIGS. 28A, 28B, and 29.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

One goal of the present invention is the creation of a Team EducationCommunity (TEC), bringing to bear all the “players” in educationtogether for the benefit of the student. The medium of interchange willbe the student's e-Slate. This device contains the student's textbookand other reading, video and curriculum materials in digital form, aswell as homework, worksheets, course work, assignments, daily grades,etc . . . . But perhaps most importantly, the e-Slate will provide thesecure medium by which teachers, administrators, the student and his orher parents come together on a daily basis, to share, inquire about andreport “late breaking news” of the student's social and academicprogress and status, instead of reporting “history” (e.g. periodic“report cards”), long after the fact, as is now the case in the majorityof schools worldwide.

The e-Slate allows daily, secure, private communication, collaborationand interaction via several different avenues (handwritten or typedtext, voice, video, on-line interactive or off-line replication) betweenall the constituent parties of the TEC. Further, it provides a means offast response and intervention when challenges in the student's schoolexperience arise, and serves to facilitate communication andcoordination supporting the effectiveness of such remedies andcorrective actions, all to the benefit of the student.

Furthermore, by incorporating elements of an existing patent of theinventor, the present invention provides for a “kindergarten to highschool graduation” (and beyond) repository of information, encompassingall educational (and other relevant) entities (national and/orinternational) regarding the student that may be accessed, viewed, andresearched by authorized parties. The use of the inventor's existingpatent in concert with the present invention, for example, would allowall school health records from the many different schools located inseveral states that a given student may have attended to be accessiblealong with insurance company records and medical information alsospanning a decade. Being able to collate, compare and review all thisinformation together, seen in different “views” could give a physicianor other health care professional tremendous insights when trying todiagnose the child's illness. Such insights into cross-institutionalinformation concerning children are simply not currently available.Access to disciplinary and mental health information from the manyschools attended by a student over a number of years, when combined withinsights from video clips spanning those years recorded by other schoolprofessionals who have sought to help the troubled student couldlikewise assist a guidance counselor in dealing with the “new” student'sbehavioral problems.

The existing patent of the inventor also provides the basis for thesystem of data sharing among internationally and nationally-basededucation institutions envisioned in the current invention. Thisaddresses the reality that any new education process model mustincorporate and interact with existing database structures of existingeducational institutions, nationally and internationally, whileproviding a 21st century “overlay” upon which to build new datasets andmethodologies based on the envisioned universal implementation of thee-Slate.

The “multi-dimensional” and “multi-institutional” data structure of theinventor's existing patent provides a method by which information can bemaintained by virtually an infinite array of data collecting andreporting entities over the academic life of the student (and beyond).The data can be seen in an infinite number of “views” spanning decadesand accessed (in accordance with strict legal and ethical guidelines)according to a variable set of “viewing rules”. This feature is thesubject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,890, entitled “System for Data SharingAmong Independently-Operating Information Gathering Entities withIndividualized Conflict Resolution Rules,” which is incorporated hereinby reference as if fully set forth.

As stated previously, it is amazing that despite all the technologicaladvances in virtually all other sectors of society, the fundamental“public education process model” and the devices used “universally” inschools have changed very little in the past 40 years. What the presentinvention provides is a unique, new method and apparatus to rapidly movethe public education process model of all schools in all nations for allstudents and parents into the 21^(st) century; equally, fairly,economically, regardless of “circumstances at home” vis a vis literacy,language, electricity, phone service, computers and or access to theInternet.

The present invention brings the 21st century to all homes, students andparents, even if there is virtually no modern infrastructure availableoutside of the school. Yet, the present invention is also a radical andvaluable new tool for the most technologically advanced, economicallyblessed and infrastructure rich communities and families. The presentinvention literally lets “all families rise together” in the comingcentury, rather than “leaving any child behind” because of the family'seconomic circumstances.

If a family is economically blessed and has a home computer and Internetaccess, wonderful! That may be considered a plus for the child in such ahome. But the “unfair” competitive situation created by such aneconomically-based “digital divide” for those who have no such “homefield advantage” are greatly diminished by the present invention.Nothing is taken away from the privileged, but little is lost by theunder-privileged either by using the present invention universally inpublic education. It provides a baseline “level playing field” for allchildren to have 21st century technology available at school and athome. That might mean a child doing their homework on the e-Slate bycandlelight because the parents can't pay the electric bill in urbanDetroit or because there is no electric service yet available to theunincorporated “colonia” in the Rio Grande Valley. This takes awaynothing from the blessed child at Beverly Hills High or Highland ParkElementary who has the latest greatest Pentium computer and a DSLconnection to the Internet. It is simply a plus for all other children.

US schools are also faced with an ever more complex array ofresponsibilities, expectations and considerations concerning thechildren placed in their care. Security (i.e. who is authorized to pickup the child from school in an emergency or for early release for adental appointment), identifying and intervening in cases of possiblechild abuse or neglect in the home, providing for bilingual (ormultilingual) communications with parents (and/or students), securityand privacy issues, and so on are all new challenges that will only growin scope and importance in the coming century. At the center of allthese concerns, however, is the question of the each student's successin their own social and academic education as well as his or herphysical and mental well-being.

In order for there to be a quantum change in the fundamental educationprocess model, any new system must be “child-centered”, not in the “hiptheoretical sense” but actually physically centered around the child.Any new system for universal public education must be deployable acrossall cultural and economic strata nationally and internationally; acrossall “digital divides”. For example, a model based on the assumption thatthe student's home has Internet access and a computer (or evenelectricity or a working phone), is not one that would address allfamilies in the United States of America, nor in some communities, eventhe majority of families. Such a model would be even less applicable tonations and cultures less advanced technically, but who are still ascommitted to quantum improvements in education for their children as any“advanced society”. Any system that Would require even every classroomto be interconnected into a real-time network would still not addresscommunications between the students' parents, teachers and schooladministrators, if many students' homes have neither a personal computernor Internet access, not to mention neither electricity nor phoneservice.

For there to be a sea change in the way education is delivered andmanaged in the United States and the rest of the world there must be acomplete retooling of the systems, methods and devices used tofacilitate all aspects of the student's educational experience at schooland in the home. The idea of making the model and the apparatusstudent-centered means that all points of intersection include the childand his or her family as the center point of communication, rather thanjust addressing the educator's or administrator's valid needs andconcerns regarding their specific job functions, but not directlybenefiting any one given student.

The education process model of the present invention is intended tofacilitate communications between parents and educators (includingteachers, administrators, counselors, and other “staff” . . . bandinstructors, coaches, nurses, etc.) concerning the most importantstudent in the world; the parents' child. It provides for a securecollection and reporting of information under an “eyes only” level ofsecurity, between these parties, by use of biometric identificationaccess security protocols and a detailed profiling of the types ofinformation captured and stored and a access control methodology for alldata captured and stored. The medium for this capture, storage andsharing of information is the e-Slate.

Finally, there is an obvious aspect of the present invention that couldfacilitate the tutoring, further education and quality of lifeimprovements for the parents in the home, as well. If the parents aretrained in the use of the e-Slate by the student or the teacher, thenthe parents could be enrolled in “at home” courses learning to read, towrite, to spell and so forth. Parents and child learning together,perhaps by candlelight with a 21st century education tool promises tochange that image for at least the next generation throughout the world.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the e-Slate will be theelectronic school writing tablet, typewriter and textbook of the 21stcentury. Each student will be issued an e-Slate upon “registration” atpublic school. The registering parents or guardians will present thechild to the school's office, a digital photo will be taken of the childand a biometric reading will be captured of the child (i.e. fingerprint,voiceprint, etc.). Additionally digital photos and biometric readingswill be recorded of the parents. All biographic and other information(i.e. financial information for school meal programs, health records,immunization records, etc . . . ) will be verified with the registeringparty. The information that is specific to the student and parents (i.e.personal information, e-mails, voice mails, video messages, digitalphotos, homework, grades, biometrics) will be stored both on the centralserver of the school and on the student's e-Slate. The information onthe student's. e-Slate can only be accessed by the student, his or herparents (guardians), and the authorized educators at the school or thedistrict administration.

If the student's e-Slate is lost or stolen (or one just attempts to“take a peek”), the e-Slate information cannot be accessed without theproper biometric “read”, so the student's and parents' information issecure. There is also little of a “black market” for the e-Slate device,as the algorithms for accessing the invention's operating system areheld secure at several levels “off site” from the school campus. In thepreferred embodiment, the invention is not based on the much morepopular Microsoft (MS) Windows operating system, but is ratherLINUX-based (a “free” version of UNIX), thus lessening its desirabilityfor black-market sales and the entire system's vulnerability to commonMS-directed viruses on the net. This will also help in greatly reducingthe cost of each e-Slate unit by its use of a “free” operating systemthat belongs to “the world” rather than a US-based company's softwareproduct. This reflects the inventor's desire to remain sensitive tointernational “perceptions” wherever possible in creating arevolutionary international education process model and its apparatus,so that both will actually be embraced and adopted by a critical mass ofcountries.

The central servers of the present invention will use commerciallyavailable “access control” server software systems (i.e. Lotus Domino,MS-Exchange, Novell's Group-Wise, etc . . . ) for the creation of useraccess groups, support of data and messaging replication and directinge-mail and other messaging to the proper destination.

The e-Slate device itself will not fully “boot” when it is turned onwithout the proper biometric read (e.g. voiceprint or thumbprintrecognition) and the data access will be limited to the security levelallowed by the biometric read (e.g. if the student “logs in” the system,he or she cannot read video messages from the teacher to the parentswithout a parent's biometrics first being contemporaneously recognizedby the e-Slate unit, but a parent could look at any of the student'sdata and messages, if those are the access rules that are established bythe school and its TEC).

All information is automatically replicated to the school's/district'sservers whenever the e-Slate is connected to a docking station, thee-Slate Cradle, that has connectivity to the school's network. Thiswould normally be at the student's desk, the school library, or, in anoptimal implementation, through Internet/Intranet connection at home. Inthis manner, all information is “backed up” as of the last connectionwith the school's systems, so only data captured in-between connectionswould be missed should the e-Slate unit become lost (i.e. the dog ate mye-Slate) or even if the unit were to be completely destroyed (i.e.daddy's car ran over my e-Slate).

The e-Slate itself is relatively lightweight and simple in design,having no built-in mechanical keyboard or other external moving parts.The e-Slate has a touch screen video display, with software drivenQWERTY keyboard emulator, as well as a stylus for “handwritten”notation, a built-in microphone for dictation of “text” through voicerecognition or for recording voice memos (digital recordings) and aspeaker for playing audio. The e-Slate can have built-inInternet/Intranet access capability (wireless high speed modem and/ornetwork card), will “boot up” in a browser or “client” (i.e. LotusNotes) environment for access to the World Wide Web, and feature amulti-gigabyte memory storage capacity. As the e-Slate has no externalmoving parts and no openings save the docking station and power/batteryoutlets, built-in microphone, speaker and their jack ports, it will beextremely portable and durable given the user-base (K-12 Students). Thee-Slate is not intended to be used as a video game device by students,as notebook computers could easily be used. Because the e-Slate'soperating system is LINUX-based and will have preset parameters(controlled by the school) as to which applications may be run on thesystem, the unit should remain primarily an education tool, rather thanserve as a “Game Boy”. Conceivably, however, net-based games and orother entertainment sites could be accessed using the e-Slate's browserand with Internet access, if allowed by the school's URL accessfiltering protocols.

The present invention is designed to facilitate on a daily basis, therapid and secure collectiori, storage, organization, access, retrievaland delivery of virtually all information vital to all parties involvedin the student's education (the TEC), not the least of whom is the childand his or her parents.

The present invention is well suited for deployment at the local,regional, state, national and international levels. The presentinvention is uniquely “fair”, in that it does not presume that thechild's home has a computer and/or is connected to the Internet (or thatthere is even electricity or a functioning phone connection).

The present invention does not presume that the child's parents orguardians are computer literate or that they can even read or writeEnglish (or any other particular language, for that matter). Audioand/or video messages from the teachers can, of course, be made in theparent's native language if the teacher is able to speak that language,or translation services or technologies can be employed to translate themessage by transcription for the child's family. The same is true forcommunications from the parents, which can simply be digitally recorded(like voice mail) and delivered to the teacher via replication the nexttime the student's e-Slate “plugs into” the classroom e-Slate Cradle.All these communications between parents and educators are secure andprivate due to the biometric identification and certification processesemployed by the present invention.

Whether serving children in rural, inner city, suburban or upscalecommunities, the present invention assumes nothing of the economiccapabilities of the child's home environment or the family's personalresources. The e-Slate (and the optional home Cradle) will be issued tothe student and family, just as textbooks are now by public schools inAmerica. In case of loss or theft, a new unit can be reconfigured at theschool campus level and the student's and parents' information,biometrics, permanent record, digital photos, curriculum, grades, coursework, e-mails, etc . . . , (as of the last Cradle connection andreplication) can be downloaded from the school's central server computerto a new e-Slate and reissued to the child the very same day.

Biometric access control and “group-ware” security organization anddesignations will also assure the privacy and security of the student'sand his/her family's personal information at school. For example, eventhough a given teacher is a bonafide educator at the child's school, ifthe student is not in his or her class, that teacher will not haveaccess to any of the child's information. Even if a teacher is thestudent's teacher, he or she will not be able to access the child'shealth information (reserved for the school nurse's specific access)unless authorized by the access rules set forth by the school vis a visthe student.

Likewise, disciplinary information, on the other hand, might beaccessible to the school's principal, assistant principal or thecounselor in charge of the child's “case”, but the student's coach orthe band teacher would not have access to it, unless the school allowedsuch access to such a “group”. The nurse would be able to access allhealth-related information regarding the student, but perhaps not theeconomic data. All such “access rules” are definable by the local schoolby setting the “grouping” of the educator involved.

Yet, for purposes of “seeing” trends regarding a group of students oreven a specific class, or segment of students (i.e. all fifth grade mathstudents), the information from all the relevant “permanent” recordscould be collated, assessed and graphed for “blind” analysis(withholding the individual identities of the students) if such a studywere authorized by the school.

The present invention will also help in facilitating interventionsconcerning possible child abuse or neglect, identifying “stolen” orkidnapped children and in identifying children of parents who have fledwith the child against court order. The present invention could alsohelp identify food stamp, welfare, or other potential fraud. The presentinvention would also facilitate and support the proper dispensing ofvalid economic benefits such as school breakfast programs, Head Startprograms, immunizations, health services, after-school athletic andother programs, etc . . . by documenting the child's participation inthose programs and assuring the school (and such program's governmentalor private sponsors) of accurate certified attendance rosters of studentparticipants in those programs.

The use of the patented database design and architecture (inventor'sexisting U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,890) for the creation of the variousclearinghouses containing student information from a multitude ofsources over the entire academic life of the student (and beyond) willprovide new vista's of capabilities for counselors, nurses, educatorsand parents to identify “trends” (positive or negative) in the child'seducational journey. The inventor's existing patent allows for thecollection and access of information regarding an individual e.g. thestudent) from virtually an infinite number of educational and/or otherdata-sharing institutions. Use of elements of the inventor's existingpatent in the present invention allows for a multitude of “views” ofinformation. This allows one authorized to access the student data to“slice and dice” the information across time and across variedinstitutions, data element by data element. The inventor's existingpatent would allow educational institutions to share, inquire about andaccess information concerning a given student with health careprofessionals, insurance companies, social workers, child welfareagencies, judicial and other governmental institutions, again as agreedto voluntarily by the organizations involved and/or authorized bystatute.

By fully exploiting such a system, for example, the school nurse andcounselor could collaborate and view information regarding a troubledstudent who recently transferred in from out of state. The informationviewed might include insurance company claim records or medical recordsof the student that show that the child has suffered from ear infectionseach January and February over the past five years. They note that thereis corresponding drop in the student's test scores and there has been aconsistent and marked increase in disciplinary problems during those twowinter months for that student, as well. They surmise that the student'srecent rash of “falling asleep in class incidents” that led to thepresent “intervention effort” by members of the TEC may also be due toheavy use of prescription antibiotics currently prescribed, because ofthe chronic ear infection, or perhaps some allergic reaction to same.Contacting the child's parents, the TEC works together to coordinateinformation and seek possible solutions. The nurse, the counselor andthe student's doctor collaborate and develop a course of intervention(i.e. changing the dosage, or the drug itself, closer monitoring of thechild by the school nurse and reporting symptoms regularly to thephysician and the parents, or perhaps the doctor recommends surgery forthe introduction of ear drainage tubes, and thus seeks approval for theprocedure from the insurance company, or refers the child to an ear,nose throat specialist, and so on). The combinations of such possible“problem patterns” is endless. However, if the problem pattern can be“seen” by dedicated and authorized members of the TEC, then the problemcan be better dealt with. The coordination of and rapid collaboration byall the student's education “community” (in the above example includingthe student's insurance company and personal physician) are allfacilitated by the present invention to the personal benefit andbetterment of the child.

Other possible benefits of the present invention are in the area ofschool and personal security. In an age of Littleton Colo. and othershocking acts of violence on public school campuses, how much saferwould our children be if communications between, parents, students,teachers, administrators, school security personnel and local policewere better facilitated? Problems and concerns could be transmitted,shared and dealt with many times faster with special “hot line” or“alert” work flow protocols, when immediate crisis intervention couldperhaps save lives or at least limit the scope and severity of securityproblems at our public schools.

Valid privacy concerns and fears of an Orwellean “Big Brother”, in thiscountry at least, should be laid to rest. In many if not most states,even getting a driver's license requires digitized fingerprinting, thetaking of a digital photo and even digitalization of the individual'ssignature, exactly the kinds of biometrics that the present inventionwill require of the student and their parents. If these “intrusions” areacceptable for public access to the nation's highways, they shouldlikewise be acceptable steps for access to our public schools in theinterests of our children's long-term success and safety.

Across the United States of America, the growing fear of predatorypedophiles and kidnappers of children (all too often a non-custodialparent or estranged relative of the child) drives concerned parents totake their children to the malls and other forums where anever-increasing number of departments of public safety and other stateand local governmental institutions provide free fingerprinting and thetaking of “mug shot” photographs of children, just in case such aterrible event should happen and their child “disappears” for one reasonor another.

What parent would not authorize having all their child's biographic andbiometric information (fingerprints, voiceprint, height, weight, colorof eyes) as well as a recent high quality digitized color phototransmitted instantly to police, hospitals, airports, etc . . .statewide, nationwide or even worldwide should their beloved child belost, taken from them, run away or just plain “disappear”? The presentinvention would make such instant communications possible, across theseUnited States and even the entire world.

The present invention's education process model and apparatus willeffectuate a quantum leap forward in bringing 21st century technologyand communications to every school child of every economic standing andto their parents, their teachers, nurses, principals, coaches,administrators for the benefit of that one child and the advancement ofall communities (local, state, national, and the world). The child willbecome a better citizen and contributing participant. If we are moresuccessful in educating the young of all nations, then public educationhas done its job and the world should be a better place for all.

With these prefatory comments in mind, the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention will now be described with reference to the figures.

FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram and flow representation of theinterrelationship between an international education informationclearinghouse 200, international reporting entities 290, internationalinquiring entities 295, and participating country's national educationinformation clearinghouses 300. As is shown, inquiries and/or shared(reported) information 100 and shared (reported) information and/orinquiry results returned 110 may be communicated between these entities.For example, the international education information clearinghouse 200may receive requests for information in the form of inquiries or mayreceive shared and reported information from other entities such as aninternational reporting entity 290 and/or an international inquiry 295.Likewise, the international education information clearinghouse 200 mayreceive inquiries or shared, reported data from any one of a number ofparticipating country's national education information clearinghouses300. The amount of data that is shared may be determined by agreementamong these entities. Likewise, the amount of information that may beobtained as a result of an inquiry may also be determined by agreement.In the view of FIG. 1A, inquiries and/or shared (reported) information100 is shown as flowing into the international education informationclearinghouse 200. Similarly, the shared (reported) information and/orinquiry results returned 110 is shown as flowing outward from theinternational education information clearinghouse 200. The system usedfor sharing and viewing the data among these participants in theinternational education information clearinghouse 200, is that which isprovided by use of the inventor's existing U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,890,entitled “System for Data Sharing Among Independently-OperatingInformation Gathering Entities with Individualized Conflict ResolutionRules”, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram representation of an exemplary international,national, state, regional, district, and local school topology which isexemplary of implementation of the present invention in a member nationsuch as the United States of America. As is shown, the US Department ofEducation 399 is shown as having a communication relationship with theinternational education information clearinghouse 200. Various otherfederal departments have a command, control, communication relationshipwith the US Department of Education. In the view of FIG. 1B, theDepartments of Health, Justice, etc. are shown as comprising nationalreporting entities 390 which have a data-sharing relationship with theUS Department of Education 399. Likewise, the Department of Defense,public and private universities, employers, and others are identified asbeing national inquiring entities 395. Put more simply, the USDepartment of Education will aggregate data received from othergovernmental units. It will make the aggregated data available togovernmental entities, and others on an agreement basis. As is shown inthe example of FIG. 1B, the US Department of Education may have acommand, control, communication relationship with a national student andeducator information clearinghouse 300. This may be a sub-departmentestablished by statute to maintain the aggregated data. Various stateentities may have a subordinated command, control, and communicationrelationship with the Department of Education 399 and may provide datafor the national student and education clearinghouse 300. In the exampleof FIG. 1B, states 1−N are shown as having such a relationship with thenational student and educator information clearing house 300. As isshown, the State of Texas may maintain a student and educatorinformation database 400. Likewise, the State of Iowa may maintain astudent and educator information database 400. These entities may havesimilar relationships with regional service centers within the statewhich have a data sharing relationship with local school districts 500and local school campuses 600. Of course, each local school district 500is composed of all the local students, their parents, the localteachers, the administrators for each individual school campus.

FIG. 1C is a simplified pictorial representation of a plurality ofmultidimensional e-slate datasets maintained for a particular studentover a several year interval. As is shown, the plurality of datasets 170are established for years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. Each of thee-Slate datasets preferably includes a digital photo, biographicinformation, academic information, health information, and somebiometric data. Datasets 171, 172, 173, 174, 175 are provided for theyears spanning from year 2001 through year 2005. In the preferredimplementation, each dataset for every year of a student's academiccareer is maintained in a plurality of databases. For example, theinformation may be maintained in a national education informationclearinghouse 300. It may also be maintained in a regional (state)central databank 400. It may also be maintained in a local school'sdistrict central databank 500. It may likewise be maintained in a localschool biometric database 655 and in replication databases 660 in backupform. Finally, it may be maintained on the student e-Slate devicedatabase 618. The system used for organizing and sharing the e-Slate's“multi-dimensional” and “multi-institutional” information is that whichis provided by use of the inventor's existing U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,890,entitled “System for Data Sharing Among Independently-OperatingInformation Gathering Entities with Individualized Conflict ResolutionRules”, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of an international educationinformation clearinghouse 200. The international educationalclearinghouse 200 may communicate through a network interface 205 whichmay be implemented through the Internet or through a wide area network(WAN). The network interface 205 allows communication with eachparticipating country's national education information clearinghouses300, international reporting entities 290, and international inquiringentities 295. The international education information clearinghouse 200includes a communications front end and firewall 215 which preferablyprovides a series of cascading graphical user interfaces which areutilized to facilitate the bidirectional communication of data and thebi-directional communication of inquiries and inquiry results. Thecentral processing unit (CPU) 230 has associated with it dedicated RAMmemory 210 and ROM memory 220.

The communication front end and firewall 215 is defined by executableprogram instructions which are executed by central processing unit 230.An operating system 225 is loaded and executed by central processingunit 230. As discussed above, the preferred operating system of thepresent invention is a UNIX environment, although other alternativeoperating systems can also be utilized. In accordance with the preferredembodiment of the present invention, a biometric processor 235 isprovided which is dedicated for the processing of biometric data whichis utilized in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention in order to secure access and use to the e-Slate device aswell as to the data maintained on the e-Slate device and associatedschool networks. Furthermore, a central storage device 240 is preferablyutilized in order to store a relatively large amount of education data.A plurality of linked databases are maintained in central storage device240. Some of the preferred database components include participant(countries and international) entities database 250, inquiry database251, reporting database 252, student database 253, teacher database 254,administrator database 255, parent database 256, biometric database 257,curriculum database 258, academic database 259, text book/video & medialibrary 260. As is shown in FIG. 2, a network interface (preferably anInternet interface) 205 allows the communications front end and firewall215 to be accessed via a wide area network (such as the Internet). Thenetwork interface allows communication with participating countries'national education information clearinghouses 300, internationalreporting entities 290, and international inquiring entities 295.

Again, the system used for sharing and viewing the data among theseparticipants in the international education information clearinghouse200, the national education information clearinghouse 300, the state 400and school districts 500 and local school campuses 600 is that which isprovided by use of the inventor's existing U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,890,entitled “System for Data Sharing Among Independently-OperatingInformation Gathering Entities with Individualized Conflict ResolutionRules”, which is incorporated herein by reference as if fully set forth.

FIGS. 3, 4, and 5 show the preferred configuration of the informationclearinghouses for each participating national country, each regionalschool's central databank, and a local school's central databank. As isshown in FIG. 3, a participating country's national educationinformation clearinghouse 300 will preferably include a communicationsfront end firewall 315, a CPU 330, and its associated RAM 310 and ROM320 memory. The central processing unit 330 executes programinstructions, in accordance with an operating system 325. Once again,biometric processor 335 is provided in order to process the biometricsecurity data. The central storage device 340 includes similar databasessuch as the participating entities database 350, inquiry database 351,reporting database 352, student database 353, teacher database 354,administrator database 355, parent database 356, biometric database 357,curriculum database 358, academic database 359, text book/video & medialibrary 360. A network interface 305 serves to allow wide area networkcommunication (preferably via the Internet) with other clearinghousessuch as the international education information clearinghouse 200,national reporting entities 390, national inquiring entities 395, andwith regional (state) school's central databanks 400.

The regional (state) school's central databank 400 is depicted in FIG.4. As is shown, the regional school's central databank 400 includes acommunications front end and firewall 415, and central processing unit430 and its associated RAM 410 and ROM 420 memory which executes programinstructions and which operates in accordance with operating system 425.Additionally, biometric processor 435 is provided to handle biometricsecurity data. Central storage device 440 includes a number of databasecomponents such as participants (districts and entities) database 450,inquiry database 451, reporting database 452, student database 453,teacher database 454, administrator database 455, parent database 456,biometric database 457, curriculum database 458, academic database 459,text book/video & media library 460. Once again, a network interface 405is provided which allows Internet and/or intranet communication withother entities and clearinghouses such as the national educationinformation clearinghouse 300, regional (state) reporting entities 490,regional (state) inquiring entities 495, and to region's (state's) localschool district's central databanks 500.

As is shown in FIG. 5, a local school district's central databank 500 issimilarly configured to include a communications front end firewall 515,and a central processing unit 530 and its associated RAM 510 and ROM 520memory which executes program instructions and which operates inaccordance with operating system 525.

Furthermore, biometric processor 535 is provided to process thebiometric security data. A central data storage device 540 includes anumber of database components such as participant's local schools andentities database 550, inquiry database 551, reporting database 552,student database 553, teacher database 554, administrator database 555,parent database 556, biometric database 557, curriculum database 558,academic database 559, and text book/video & media library 560. Onceagain, a network interface 505 is provided to allow Internet or intranetcommunication with other entities such as the regional (state) centraldata bank 400, the local (district) reporting entities 590, the local(district) inquiring entities 595, to local schools 600, students 610,teachers 620, administrator 630, and parents 640.

FIG. 6 depicts a preferred local school e-Slate network 600. A networkinterface 605 is provided to allow Internet and/or intranetcommunication with other entities such as the school district's centraldatabase 500 or to allow secure home access for students 610, teachers620, administrator 630, and parents 640. A local area network (LAN) hub607 is provided to facilitate bidirectional communication within thelocal school e-Slate network 600. Local area network hub 607communicates with a number of other components within the local schoole-Slate network 600, including server computers such as server computer650 which allows and controls access to databases such as biometricdatabase 655, replication database and access control systems 660 (whichis preferably a system such as Lotus Domino R5), and other schooldatabases 670. The local area network hub 607 is also connected to aplurality of e-Slate Cradles 900 (also referred to as e-Cradles). Inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention,teachers, administrators, students, and possibly parents are issuede-Slate Cradles 900. Each e-Slate Cradle 900 is adapted to coupleelectrically with an e-Slate 700. As discussed above, an e-Slate is alightweight portable notebook-like computer which may be carried aboutby teachers, students, and administrators. It may be electricallyconnected to an e-Slate Cradle 900 in order to connect the e-Slate 700to the local school e-Slate network 600, but also to allow the use ofperipheral hardware devices such as keyboards, graphical pointing devicesuch as a computer mouse, video cameras, and interface devices such ashigh speed modems and network cards which allow access to the Internetor intranet. As is shown in the view of FIG. 6, an e-Slate 700 ande-Cradle 900 are issued to each teacher 620. Likewise, an e-Cradle 900and e-Slate device 700 are issued to each administrator 630. Likewise,an e-Slate 700 and e-Cradle 900 are issued to each student 610 and tothe parents 640. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention,the parents 640 also have access to the student's device at home, beforeor after the student has used it. Also, as is shown in the view of FIG.6, the teacher's local data 628 is maintained on the issued e-Slate 700.Likewise, the administrator's local data 638 is maintained on theadministrator's e-Slate 700. Similarly, the student's local data 618 andparent's local data 619 are maintained on the e-Slate 700 which isissued to each student 610 and parent 640. In accordance with thepreferred implementation of the present invention, the replicationdatabases and access control system 660 is utilized to control what datagoes where, who is to have access to the information and what level ofsecurity is required to see it.

FIG. 7 is a pictorial representation of the exterior of e-Slate 700. Thee-Slate 700 includes a relatively small housing which carries a numberof functional elements which are accessible to the user during ordinaryuse. A relatively small touch screen display 730 is provided.Preferably, the screen format corresponds generally to a conventional“page” size. For example, in the United States of America, an 8½×11″screen would represent a conventional page. In other nations, other pageformats are utilized. For example, in Europe an A-4 format is utilizedwhich is longer and narrower than the conventional US page format. Ofcourse, new page formats may be developed especially for use with thepresent invention. A stylus 720 is provided in order to activate thetouch screen display 730. Preferably, interchangeable stylus points 728are provided to allow stylus 720 to be used for other functions. Ahandgrip 710 is provided and open handle space 715 is also provided. Thestudent, teacher, administrator, may carry the e-Slate 700 by graspingit with one hand at the handgrip 710 and passing a portion of the handthrough the open space 715. It is envisioned that a variety of local“carrying” devices will emerge to more easily transport and/or protectthe device, in keeping with local customs and preferences. These mayinclude “backpacks”, satchels or slings, among other such ancillarydevices. Preferably, each e-Slate 700 carries an owner's nameplate 770,and the owner's name 774 is permanently printed, marked, or engravedthereon. Furthermore, each e-Slate 700 should carry a serial number 776as well as the serial number in a barcode format 778. In order to secureaccess to the device, a biometric on-button and reader 740 is provided.Currently, thumbprint readers are commercially available at reasonable(and descending) prices to provide a relatively good biometric securitysystem, but other different and additional biometric sensors may beused. In order to enable audio applications, a built-in speaker 750 andmicrophone 760 are provided on e-Slate 700. Similarly, a microphone jack765 and headphone jack 755 are also provided on e-Slate 700. While thee-Slate carries its own internal power supply in the form ofrechargeable battery pack, an external electrical power adapter jack 790is provided to allow the device to be powered from a conventionalelectrical outlet. Furthermore, an e-Cradle connection port 780 isprovided which allows communication with the local area network 600 ofFIG. 6 when e-Slate 700 is electrically connected to its e-Slate cradle900 (of FIG. 6). Connection to the e-Slate's Cradle also results in theautomatic recharging of the e-Slate's battery.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram representation of the interior components 800of e-Slate 700. As is shown, central processing unit 830 is provided inorder to execute program instructions. Central processing unit (CPU) 830has associated with it ROM memory 832 and user RAM 834. CPU 830 iselectrically connected to audio microphone 860 and is likewiseelectrically connected to audio speaker 850 and can receive audio inputfrom audio microphone 860 and provide audio output by electricallydriving audio speaker 850. When an external microphone 865 or externalheadphone 855 is utilized, the audio microphone 860 or audio speaker 850are overridden. CPU 830 also controls the operation of touch screendisplay 836. It serves to receive input from the touch screen and todisplay images such as text to the display. The CPU communicates withbiometric EPROM 875 which serves to record the biometric data (such asthe thumbprint data) which are associated with the particular e-Slate700. The biometric reader 840 and biometric device 844 cooperate toallow the input of biometric data. The CPU operates to compare biometricdata received at reader 840 with the content of biometric EPROM 875. Ifthere is no match between the biometric data, access is restricted ordenied to the e-Slate 700. If there is a match, access is allowed, butonly to the extent that the particular individual identified by thebiometric data is allowed access. In other words, a parent may havedifferent and greater access to the content of e-Slate 700 than thestudent may have. This secures communications between the teacher andthe parent. Furthermore, the e-Slate 700 carries an e-Slates serialnumber in programmable read only memory (PROM) 870 which is utilized toelectronically record a serial number associated with e-Slate 700. Inaccordance with the preferred implementation of the present invention,the e-Slate 700 includes an optional internal wireless network interface888 which is adapted to allow communication either through e-cradleconnection 880 to a network interface 886 which is associated with orcarried by the e-cradle or directly to the Internet for a truly“wireless” connection. Additionally, in the preferred implementation,e-Slate 700 includes data storage which carries programs and data.Exemplary operating systems and programs include the LINUX operatingsystem 891, Lotus Notes 892, curriculum content 893 which may becomposed of text and images and combinations of text and images,biographical data 894 which is uniquely associated with the student, andthe academic data 895 which is also uniquely associated with the studentand represents the academic record for the student. Furthermorecurriculum data 896 and a textbook, video and media library 897 may bestored on the data storage device 890. The e-Slate 700 is powered by arechargeable battery pack 814 but may also receive DC power from powersupply 810 which connects to a conventional wall outlet via an optionalpower cord. Furthermore, the e-Slate 700 may receive power through thee-Cradle connection 880 from battery charger 884 which is preferablylocated within the e-Cradle.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram representation of the e-Slate Cradle and it isused to illustrate the various operative components of an e-Slate Cradle(e-Cradle) 900. As is shown, the e-Cradle 900 includes an adjustableeasel 910 which allows the adjustment and position to accommodatevarious users. There are a number of electrical and electromechanicalcomponents which cooperate to allow for the input and output of data.For example, interchangeable keyboard 950 is provided which allows astudent, teacher, administrator, parent to key in information. Anoptional video camera connection 960 is provided. An optional CD/DVDreader (and/or writer) 965 may be provided. A network interface 970 maybe provided to allow for local area network/wide area network/wirelesscommunication to the Internet or the school's intranet 975. An optionalphone modem 980 may be provided. A USB port 990 may be provided forreleasable connection to printers and peripherals 995. An e-Slateconnection port 920 may be provided for connecting to the e-Slate 700.An e-Slate battery charger device 930 may be provided for passing powerfrom power supply 935 through e-Slate connection port 920 to e-Slate toprovide electrical power for the electrical power consuming componentsof e-Slate 700 and in order to recharge the e-Slate's battery pack 814.

FIG. 10 is a pictorial representation of classroom equipment which maybe utilized in combination with the e-Slate devices and the local areanetwork to conduct group work activities such as presentation ofclassroom material in support of a lecture or tutorial. As is shown, anelectronic blackboard, e-Board 1000 is composed of a number ofelectrical components which cooperate to facilitate this type ofactivity. A large format video monitor 1010 is provided. Alternatively,a projection unit and screen may be used in lieu of a large video screenformat. Relatively large plasma screen displays provide crisp highresolution images and are sufficiently large to allow a large group ofpeople to view a single screen format displays is rapidly falling inprice so the use of these may be economically possible in school in thenear future. The large format video monitor is connected to electricalpower outlet 1020. Electrical power outlet 1020 also supplies power tothe other power consuming components which cooperate with large screenvideo monitor 1010 to push digital content to the screen. A number ofother components are provided including a video conference camera 1040which allows for real-time video conferencing with remote locations.This allows for extremely high quality presentations to be video cast torelatively large number of students, thus amortizing the costs andexpenses of developing the materials. Dedicated video conference PC 1050may be provided also. A local area network interface 1030 is provided toallow for bidirectional communication with the e-Slate classroom 1100.Furthermore, a classroom microphone 1060 and classroom speakers 1070 areprovided in order to allow the input and output of audio information.This allows the class to interact in real-time with remote locations orwith a remotely located instructor.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram representation of a preferred local schoole-Slate classroom 1100. As is shown, students A, B, C, D, E, F arelocated in the classroom 1100. Teacher 620 is also located in theclassroom. Each of students A, B, C, D, E, and F has possession andcontrol of an e-Slate device 700. Additionally, each student has attheir desk an e-Cradle 900. All e-Cradles are electrically connected toa local area network hub 607. Likewise, the teacher 620 has an e-Slatedevice 700 which may be cradled in an e-Cradle 900. The teacher'se-Cradle 900 is also connected to the local area network hub. Variousperipheral devices are connected to the local area network hub and maybe accessed utilizing an e-Slate devices 700 when cradled in thee-Cradle 900. FIG. 11 depicts some of these peripherals. They includeperipherals, printers and scanners 1110. They further include thee-Board large screen classroom display 1010, video camera 1040,microphone 1060, and speakers 1070.

In accordance with the present invention, during normal use, the e-Slatedevices 700 are cradled in a classroom environment. This optimizes theuse of the e-Slate devices, reduces battery drain, and allows for a muchgreater digital interaction between teacher, students, and the digitalsystems, content, and media. In many ways, the electronic system of thee-Slate devices 700, the network, and the peripheral devices willperform many functions which are currently being performed utilizing ablackboard and chalk. The advantage of utilizing the e-Slate devices forgroup and individual work is that the e-Slate device can capture thework product and record it in memory on any predetermined basis, inorder to allow parent's to actually review the content of theinstruction for that or any particular day. This allows a parent tobecome much more involved in the education process of a child. A parentcan review relatively quickly the entire activities of a single classday.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram representation of optimum use of the e-Slatedevice by a student and/or parent at home. This assumes that there iselectrical power in the home and wide area network access. As is shownin FIG. 12, home 1200 includes wireless or wired broadband Internetconnection 1230. This establishes a communication link which may supportreal-time video conferencing functions 1205. Additionally, it enablesdigital communication with the local school district's secure Internetor wide area network (WAN) 515 through any applicable firewall. Thee-Cradle 900 is electrically connected to the wireless or wiredbroadband Internet connection 1230. Additionally, e-Cradle 900 isconnected to video camera 960 which may be utilized during videoconferencing functions. Furthermore, e-Cradle 900 is releasablyelectrically coupled to keyboard 950 which is a conventional keyboardand may be utilized by either the student or the parent to key in textwhich is recorded in memory of e-Slate 700 which is cradled in e-Cradle900. The e-Slate 700 includes two local databases: the student's localdata 618 and the parents' local data 619. Student 61.0 may access his orher data 618 while parents 640 may access their data 619. Of course, thebiometric security system must authorize the access. In this way, theparents may utilize the biometric measurement (such as a fingerprint) inorder to access content carried by the e-Slate 700 which is available oraccessible only to the parents 640, while the student may utilize his orher biometric data (thumbprint) in order to access his or her data 618.Home 1200 may further include external peripheral devices which may beoptional or which may be necessary for some activities. These include aprinter and/or scanner 1210. Home external power source 1240 is utilizedto provide power to the power consuming components. Home external powersource 1240 directly supplies power to e-Cradle 900 which in turnprovides power to e-Slate 700 as well as to recharge the e-Slate'sinternal battery pack 814. Additionally, home external power source 1240powers the peripheral devices 1210.

FIG. 13 depicts an alternative utilization of the e-Slate 700. Moreparticularly, it depicts the use of the e-Slate in a home 1300 which hasno home electrical power or wide area network access. This is the casein most third world countries, and the present invention accommodatesthis harsh reality. As is shown, the e-Slate 700 may be brought to thehome 1300 and the student 610 may access his or her local data 618 whichis resident in the e-Slate 700. Likewise, the parents may access theparent's local data 619 which is also resident in the e-Slate 700. Ofcourse, the biometric security is utilized to limit the access tocertain types of data, so the student may not access the parent's localdata 619 without the parent's cooperation. The e-Slate is carried intothe home and powered solely by its battery pack. The battery pack isrecharged in the classroom environment when the e-Slate 700 is cradledin its e-Cradle 900. The student and parents use the e-Slate in abattery operated mode only. No recharging occurs in the homeenvironment, nor is there any wide area network access. Accordingly, thestudent's and parents' e-mail, video, voice mail, and work are updatedwith the school's classroom network through a data replication processin the classroom or remotely in a community center.

FIGS. 14, 15, and 16 depict novel uses of the e-Slate device forparticular education activities. For these figures, stylus 720 isequipped with an interchangeable stylus point which includes an inkwriting tip 729. Various screen overlays are provided which arepositioned over the e-Slate touch screen. FIG. 14 depicts the use ofe-Slate overlay sheets 1410 in combination with the use of an ink-tippedstylus 729. As is shown, e-Slate 700 has a touch screen display 730which is dimensioned to correspond to a conventional “page” in a printformat. In the United States of America, this represents an 8½×11″display. Transparent velum overlays 1410 are provided which aregenerally of the same dimensions, namely 8½××11″ in the United States ofAmerica, but other dimensions in other geographic areas. The transparentvelum 1410 is laid on top of the touch screen display 730 and the inkwriting tip 729 of the stylus 720 is utilized to conduct handwritingtutorials 1420. The student's work product can be preserved on thetranslucent velum 1410, but it also may be recorded into memory of thee-Slate 700 when the touch screen display 730 is activated to record thewriting tutorial.

FIG. 15 represents an alternative use of the e-Slate 700. In thisinstance, and overlay is utilized to conduct a handwriting tutorial1500. As is shown, handwriting tutorial program 1510 is executed andutilized to display text on the text screen display 730. In accordancewith this program, the student will follow by tracing the displayedcharacters and/or words on screen 730 using the ink-tip stylus 729 or aconventional pen. The handwriting tutorial program displays charactersand/or words on the screen 1520. The words and characters are seenclearly through the overlay 1530. They are traced, resulting in a hardcopy finished product 1540. Alternatively, there also may be a drawingtutorial 1550 which allows tracing exercises to teach drawing orillustration. Of course, the e-Slate 700 may be utilized to capture thework product in digital memory for parental, teacher, or other types ofreview. This occurs when the touch screen display 730 is actuated torecord the pressure from the writing tip 729 as the pen bears down uponthe overlay. It is also possible the transparent velum overlays could bepreprinted with testing or other information (graphics, check boxes,guides, etc . . . ).

FIG. 16 depicts the utilization of the e-Slate 700 in a spellingtutorial 1600. As is shown, the speaker is utilized in the spellingprogram to provide instructions and to provide the words which must bespelled. For example, as is shown in FIG. 13, the speaker may beutilized to say “spell hello.” In accordance with step 1610, utilizingthe speaker, the spelling program 1600 says the desired word and gives adefinition. In response, and in accordance with step 1620, the studentwrites the word on the overlay utilizing stylus 720 which is equippedwith ink writing tip 729. Then, in accordance with step 1630, utilizingoptical character recognition (OCR) feature, the e-Slate 700 “reads” thespelled word and gives appropriate feedback. For example, the programmay say “correct” or “incorrect” utilizing the speaker. Alternatively,and in accordance with step 1640, when an optical character recognition(OCR) feature is not available for the language, then the overlay can beturned in for manual grading or auxiliary OCR scanning.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart representation of the process through which ane-Slate 700 is issued for the first time to a student during the initialregistration process at a school campus 1700. The process begins atblock 1705 and continues at block 1710, wherein the student and parentsarrive at the school campus. In accordance with step 1715, the officeclerk collects the basic biographical information such as name, date ofbirth, parent's name, address, phone numbers, and any other basicinformation necessary to effect registration. In accordance with step1720, the clerk then collects biometrics from the student and theparents. Presently, thumbprint recognition is relatively well developedtechnology with relatively low cost input devices. However, it is likelythat voice and retina biometric systems will be more fully developed,commercialized, and affordable in the very near future. The presentinvention is not limited to any one particular type of biometricmeasure, and eventually may require several different independentbiometric measurements to enhance security. In accordance with step1725, the clerk then takes a digital photo of the student and his or herparents. Next, in accordance with step 1730, the clerk will search thedistrict central databank for a student ID match. In accordance withblock 1735, a determination is made as to whether the student is alreadyon file in that particular district central databank; if the student isalready on file, processing continues at block 1750; however, if thestudent is not on file processing continues at block 1740. Consideringthe first situation in which a student is already on file, in accordancewith block 1750, the clerk will print all information for the parents toreview and correct. However, if the student is not already on file,control passes to block 1740, wherein the parents fill out a completestudent information form, and then in accordance with step 1745 theclerk enters all the student information into the database and controlpasses to block 1750 wherein a printout is generated of the informationfor the parents to review and correct. In block 1755, a determination ismade as to whether the information needs correcting and/or updating. Ifso, control passes to block 1760, wherein the correct information isentered into the database. If not, control passes to block 1765, whereinthe e-Slate 700 is electronically “stamped” with the information andbiometric measures for both the student and his or her parents.Preferably, the “stamping” takes the form of recording digital contentinto an EPROM device. From that point on, this particular e-Slate 700 isuniquely associated with that student and his or her parents. Next, inaccordance with step 1770, a student's nameplate is printed and appliedto the e-Slate. Then, in accordance with step 1775, the student andparents are issued the e-Slate 700 and given orientation training. Next,in accordance with step 1780, all databases including the local, state,national, international databases are updated as is appropriate and asis agreed upon by all the entities. Then, the process ends in accordancewith step 1790.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart representation of a registration process at thesame school campus in a subsequent year. Under this scenario, thestudent retains the e-Slate 700 between grades and utilizes the samedevice in the next school year. The process begins at block 1805. Inaccordance with block 1810, the student and parents arrive at the schoolcampus. In accordance with block 1812, a determination is made as towhether the student still has his or her e-Slate 700. If the e-Slate hasbeen lost or destroyed, processing continues in accordance with block1715 of FIG. 17; however, if the student still has the e-Slate 700,control passes to block 1817, wherein the student gives the e-Slate tothe clerk. Next, in accordance with block 1820, the clerk collects newbiometrics from the student and parents. As set forth in block 1825, theclerk takes a new digital photo of the student and the parents. Inaccordance with step 1827, the biometrics are examined to determinewhether they match with the previous biometrics. At block 1830, adetermination is made as to whether all biometrics match. If there isnot a complete match, in accordance with step 1840, the biometricconflicts are resolved and control returns to block 1827; however, ifall biometrics match, control passes to block 1850, wherein allinformation is printed for the parents to review and correct. Inaccordance with step 1855, a determination is made as to whether anyinformation needs to be corrected or updated. If correction isnecessary, control passes to block 1860, wherein the correct informationis entered into the database, and the information is printed again inaccordance with step 1850 for final review and correction 1855. However,if it is determined in step 1855 that the information does not needcorrecting or updating, control passes to block 1865, wherein thestudent's e-Slate is updated with the new photos, the biometrics, andany modified biographical information. Next, in accordance with step1870, the e-Slate 700 is returned to the student by the clerk. Then, inaccordance with step 1880, the system updates all relevant databases,including local, state, national and international, and the process endsat step 1890.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart representation of the process utilized to replacelost or stolen e-Slate devices to a student during a school year 1900.The process begins at block 1905, and continues at block 1910, whereinthe student reports either the loss or theft of his or her e-Slate 700to the school clerk. Next, in accordance with step 1915, the clerkdownloads the student parent data to a new e-Slate. Then, in accordancewith step 1917, the clerk transfers the student's and the parents'biometric data to the EPROM of the new e-Slate 700. The clerk thenprints the new nameplate and applies it to the e-Slate in accordancewith step 1919. Next, in accordance with step 1920, the student teststhe new e-Slate by “pressing” the biometric “on-button.” In block 1930,the e-Slate biometric device examines the biometric data received fromthe “on-button” and compares it to the biometric data recorded in EPROMmemory and determines whether there is a match between the biometrics.If there is no match, control passes to block 1940, wherein the clerkresolves the biometric conflicts. If there is a match in the biometrics,as determined in step 1930, control passes to block 1950, wherein theclerk determines whether there is an applicable chargeable fee forreplacing the e-Slate; if there is an applicable fee, in accordance withstep 1960, the clerk collects the replacement fee; however, if there isno applicable fee, the clerk transfers ail of the student and parentdatabases to the new e-Slate in accordance with step 1965. Control thenpasses to block 1970, wherein the e-Slate is then given to the studentby the clerk. In accordance with step 1980, the e-Slate serial number ischanged (added) on all relevant databases, district, state, national,etc. and the process ends at block 1990.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart representation of the process which is utilizedwhen a student transfers to a new school during the school year andtakes the e-Slate with him or her to the new school 2000. The processcommences at block 2005, and continues to block 2010, wherein thestudent and parents arrive at the new school with the student's e-Slate.Next, in accordance with step 2015, the clerk uploads the student andparent biometrics, as well as the student and parents' databases fromthe student's e-Slate to the new school's database. Then in accordancewith step 2017, the clerk uploads the student's e-Slate serial numberfrom the EPROM or reads it from the barcode which is carried on thee-Slate. Next in accordance with step 2019, the clerk takes a newdigital photo of the student and his or her parents. In step 2020, theclerk collects new biometrics from the student and his or her parents.Control then passes to block 2030, wherein a comparison is made betweenthe new biometrics data and the old biometrics data in order todetermine whether there is a match. If there is no match, control passesto block 2035, wherein the biometric conflicts are resolved; however, ifthere is a match in the biometric data, control passes to block 2040,wherein all the biographic information is printed for the parents toreview and correct. Control then passes to block 2050, wherein it isdetermined whether the information is correct. If the information is notcorrect, control passes to block 2045, wherein the clerk updates theinformation into the school database; if the information is correcthowever, control passes to block 2060, wherein all of the student andparent databases are updated from the new school's databases to thestudent's e-Slate, then control passes to block 2070, wherein thestudent's e-Slate is given back to the student by the clerk. Inaccordance with step 2080, all changes and additions to the relevantdatabases are made, including any district, state, national, orinternational databases which are operatively associated with this dataand the process ends at block 2090.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart representation of the utilization of e-Slate 700in the classroom in order to take daily attendance 2100. The processcommences at block 2105 and continues at block 2110, wherein the studentarrives at the classroom with his or her e-Slate. In accordance withstep 2115, the student places his or her e-Slate 700 in the classroome-Cradle 900. In accordance with block 2120, the central networkdetermines whether the student's e-Slate is in an “already on”condition; if the e-Slate is not “already on” control passes to block2125, wherein the student presses the biometric “on-button;” however, ifthe e-Slate is in an “already on” condition, control passes to block2130, wherein the school's central network notes the student's e-Slateis connected to the e-cradle. Control then passes to block 2135, whereinthe central network determines whether the student just turned thee-Slate on utilizing the biometric reading; if it was not just turnedon, the student is prompted by the e-Slate to give a new biometricreading in accordance with block 2140. This is accomplished by providinga text or audio prompt to the student in a message passed from thenetwork, through the e-Cradle 900, into the e-Slate 700. In accordancewith step 2145, the student gives a biometric reading. In accordancewith block 2150, the network examines the biometric reading anddetermines whether or not there is a match between the biometric datastored in the e-Slate 700 and the current reading. If there is no match,control passes to block 2155, wherein the event is recorded and thebiometric conflict is resolved. Control will then pass to block 2140.However, if it is determined in block 2150 that the biometric data doesmatch, control passes to block 2160, wherein the central networkdetermines whether or not attendance for the student in this class hasalready been taken; if so, control passes to block 2190, wherein theprocess ends; however, it the attendance has not been taken already,control passes to block 2170, wherein the time and date, the e-CradlesID (i.e. IP address), student ID, and the e-Slate number are written tothe classroom attendance record, then control passes to block 2190 andthe process ends.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart representation of an updating process which ispreferably conducted automatically when daily attendance is taken 2200.This updating will update the databases, e-mail messages, voice mailmessages, and video exchanges, which are resident or carried in eitherthe e-Slate 700 or the system network. For example, e-mail, video, orvoice mail messages from a parent are carried in the e-Slate 700 andpassed into the network for routing to an appropriate destination. Forexample, a message or e-mail to a teacher would be updated through thenetwork and “pushed” to the appropriate e-Slate 700 for the correctteacher. Alternatively, a message for an administrator would be updatedthrough the system network and “pushed” to the appropriate e-Slate 700for the appropriate administrative personnel. The process commences atblock 2205, and continues at block 2215 wherein the student places hisor her e-Slate 700 in the classroom e-Cradle 900. In accordance withblock 2220, the central network determines whether the student's e-Slateis in an on or off condition. If the student's e-Slate is “already on,”control passes to block 2225, wherein the student is prompted to “press”the biometric “on-button” (that is, in the case of a thumbprintbiometric, but other prompts may be required and other input devices maybe required if other different or additional biometrics are utilized).If the student's e-Slate is “already on,” or if the student “presses”the biometric “on-button,” control will pass to block 2230, wherein theschool's central network notes the student's e-Slate is connected to thenetwork through the e-Cradle 900. In accordance with block 2245, thenetwork determines whether the student just turned the e-Slate 700 “on”with a biometric reading; if not, control passes to block 2240, whereinthe student is prompted by the e-Slate to give an additional biometricreading, and the biometric reading is received in accordance with block2255; if the student just recently turned “on” e-Slate 700 with thebiometric reading, blocks 2240 and 2255 are skipped and control passesdirectly to block 2250. In accordance with block 2250, the e-Slateexamines the biometric reading and determines whether it matches withthe biometric data stored in the e-Slate biometric EPROM. If there is nomatch, control passes to block 2260, wherein a record is made of themismatch, and an attempt is made to resolve the biometric conflict, andadditional biometric readings may be required; however, if there is amatch in block 2250, control passes to block 2270, wherein all new data,new e-mail, new voice mails, new video messages from the e-Slate arereplaced or copied to the network database, and wherein all new data,e-mails, voice mails, and video messages carried by the network and notpreviously communicated to the e-Slate are passed into the e-Slate andrecorded in memory along with homework, new assignments, readingmaterials, video clips, test results, etc . . . . The process then endsin accordance with block 2290.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart representation of the parents' use of thestudent's e-Slate in a home environment 2300. This scenario assumes thatthe home does not have electricity and further that the home does nothave access to the Internet. The process commences at block 2305, andcontinues at block 2315, wherein the student arrives at home with his orher e-Slate 700. In accordance with step 2320, the parent examines thestudent's e-Slate 700 to determine whether it is in an “already on”condition. If the e-Slate is not in an “already on” condition, controlpasses to block 2325, wherein the parent presses the biometric“on-button.” If the e-Slate is in an “already on” condition, controlpasses to block 2330. In either case, the parent will then select the“parent portal” option on the e-Slate screen by depressing theappropriate touch sensitive portion of the screen. Then, in accordancewith step 2335, the e-Slate determines whether the parent recentlyturned the e-slate 700 to a “on” condition with a biometric reading; ifnot, control passes to block 2340, wherein the parent has requestedthrough a prompt to provide a biometric reading. Then the biometricreading is received in accordance with step 2345 and control returns toblock 2350. If it is determined in step 2335 that the parent did justturn the e-Slate on with the biometric reading, the procedures of step2340 and 2345 are bypassed and control passes directly to block 2350. Inblock 2350, the e-Slate 700 determines whether the biometric readingmatches that stored in the e-Slate biometric EPROM. This is done inaccordance with step 2350. If there is no match, control passes toblocks 2355 and 2345, wherein the conflict is resolved. This may entailrequesting the parent to give additional biometric readings, inaccordance with block 2345. However, if it is determined in block 2350that there is a match in the biometric data, control passes to block2360, wherein the parent is permitted entry into the parental portalportion of the e-Slate database. The parent may then review thestudent's daily, weekly, or other types of performance reports from theteachers, all in accordance with block 2365. Next, in accordance withblock 2370, the parent or parents may view any video, voice, or e-mailmessages and may respond to such messages. The responses are recorded inmemory of the e-Slate 700 and carried back by the student to theclassroom where they are replicated and passed through the network tothe appropriate recipients. Then, in accordance with block 2380, theparent signs of the portal or the e-Slate “times-out” automatically.Now, the e-Slate is available for the student's use. The process thenends in accordance with block 2390.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart representation of the utilization of an e-Slate700 at a home environment in an off-line mode of operation 2400. Thisassumes a household which has neither Internet access nor electricityavailable to power the device. The process begins at block 2405 andcontinues at block 2415 wherein the student arrives at home with his orher e-Slate 700. Next, in accordance with block 2420, the e-Slatedetermines whether it is in an “already on” condition; if not, controlpasses to block 2405; if so, control passes to block 2460. When thee-Slate is not in an “already on” condition, in accordance with block2425, the student must “press” the biometric “on-button” in order toinitiate the device and utilize the device. The device responds inaccordance with block 2450 by examining the biometric reading anddetermining whether it matches the stored biometric data in the e-Slate700 EPROM, wherein the conflict is resolved, to the extent that it canbe resolved. This may require additional readings of the biometric datautilizing the biometric “on-button” in accordance with block 2425, socontrol may pass back to block 2425. However, if it is determined inblock 2450, that the biometric reading matches the stored biometric inthe EPROM, control passes to block 2460. In block 2460, the studentreviews his or her daily, weekly, or other performance reports from ateacher. Then, in accordance with block 2465, the student views anyvideo messages, voice messages, or e-mail messages from the instructoror the other school personnel, such as administrative personnel, schoolnurses, counselors, etc. The student may respond to these messages withresponsive e-mail, voice mail, or even video messages (if the videocamera is battery powered). Next, in accordance with step 2470, thestudent performs all reading assignments, views all video clips, anddoes all homework, or lab exercises that are presented to the student ina predetermined or logical manner by the e-Slate 700. Finally, thestudent signs off the student portal of the e-Slate and may make thee-Slate 700 available for parental use, all in accordance with block2480. The process ends at block 2490.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart representation of the teachers use of an e-Slateat home 2500. This scenario assumes off-line use, with no access to theInternet. However, it does assume the availability of electricity andthe possession of an e-Slate Cradle 900 with a video camera located inthe home for at-home use. The process begins at block 2505 and continuesat block 2515 wherein the teacher arrives at home with his or here-Slate 700. In accordance with step 2517, the teacher places thee-Slate in its e-cradle. In accordance with block 2520, the operatingstate of the e-Slate is examined to determine whether it is “alreadyon.” If the e-Slate is not “already on” control passes to block 2525,wherein the teacher “presses” the biometric “on-button.” If the e-Slateis “already on,” control passes to block 2550, wherein the currentbiometric reading is examined to determine whether it matches the storedbiometric data in the biometric EPROM of e-Slate 700, all in accordancewith block 2550. If there is no match, control passes to block 2555,wherein the diametric conflict is resolved. This may require the passingof control back to block 2525 to obtain other biometric readings. Once amatch is identified, control passes to block 2560, wherein the teacherreviews and writes the daily, weekly, or other class performancereports, in accordance with block 2560. Then, in accordance with block2565, the teacher views video messages, e-mail or voice messages fromparents, students, other educators, and administrators. The teacher mayappropriately respond to one or more e-mail, voice mail or video mailmessages by actuating the device microphone, using the keyboard, orusing a digital camera located in the home, all in accordance with block2565. Then, in accordance with block 2570, the teacher assigns new videoclips and other media from the school's video library to variousstudents. Next, in accordance with block 2575, the teacher records videoand/or audio messages for parents and/or students. These may be personalmessages to parents relating to a child's performance or behavior. Theyalso may be group messages which are directed to all parents. Next, inaccordance with block 2580, the teacher grades the class assignments,homework, lab exercises, and other items. Then, in accordance with block2585 the teacher turns off the e-Slate, alternatively, the e-Slate maytime-out automatically due to a lack of use. The process ends at block2590.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart representation of the process utilized for thelicensing, manufacture, distribution, issuance and tracking of thee-Slates. The process commences at block 2605. In accordance with block2615, a licensed e-Slate manufacturing plant places an order forpurchase of a set of serial numbers from a licensing authority. Then, inaccordance with step 2620, the licensing authority transfers a set oflicensed serial numbers to that particular plant. The licensingauthority may be the international clearinghouse 200, a nationalclearinghouse 300 or a some other private or governmental entityempowered to license e-Slates for manufacture. The manufacturing plantwill utilize the serial numbers, to burn or record one serial number foreach e-Slate and applies a unique barcoded serial number to eache-Slate, all in accordance with step 2625. The barcode number may be theserial number set forth in barcode format or it may be some numberderived from the serial number through some cryptographic hash functionor similar transform. In other words, conventional cryptographictechniques may be utilized to mask, conceal, or otherwise secret all orportions of any particular serial number. Next, in accordance with step2630, the plant transfers a file listing the serial numbers of newlycreated e-Slates to the licensing authority. In accordance with step2635, the licensing authority writes new serial numbers to a mastervalidation file with the licensed manufacturers identification numbersand the new e-Slate transaction record. In accordance with step 2640, aschool entity “A” may order a set of e-Slates from a manufacturingplant. A school entity might be an entire school district 500 or just alocal school campus 600. Then in accordance with step 2645, themanufacturing plant transfers a file with serial numbers of the e-Slatesordered by and shipped to the school entity “A” to the licensingauthority. Then, in accordance with step 2650, the licensing authoritythen will update the serial numbers to a master validation file with themanufacturing plant's ID number, school “A's” identity code, and arecord that the order has been “shipped” in order to document thetransaction and generate a transaction record. Next, in accordance withstep 2655, school “A” swipes the barcode serial numbers of the e-Slatesthat are received in order to enter the receipt of the e-Slate devices.The school will transfer an update to a licensing authority of thee-Slate in order to document the receipt at school “A.” This is alsodone in accordance with step 2655. Next, in accordance with step 2660,school “A” issues e-Slates to students and others and then transfers theserial numbers file listings for each issued e-Slate and the student'sID to a licensing authority. In accordance with step 2665, a mastervalidation file is updated by the licensing authority, recording eachissued e-Slate at school “A” noting the time and date of issue, thestudent's ID, and other information documenting and relating to theissued e-Slate. The process then ends in accordance with block 2690.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart representation of the procedure for tracking andreplacing lost and/or stolen e-Slate devices. The process begins atblock 2705, and continues at block 2715, wherein school “A” assigns ane-Slate serial number of “1001” to student “X”, in accordance with block2715. Then, in accordance with block 2725, student “X” loses his or here-slate which carries serial number 1001, and reports the loss to school“A”. In accordance with step 2730, school “A” issues a new e-Slateserial number of “9009” to student “X”. Then in accordance with step2732, school “A” reports the loss of the e-Slate device having serialnumber “1001” and the assignment and replacement of the e-Slate with ane-Slate carrying a serial number of “9009” to the licensing authority.The licensing authority may constitute a for-profit or a not-for-profitentity which specializes in the issuance of serial numbers and thetracking of devices. Then, in accordance with step 2735, the licensingauthority writes serial number “1001” to its transaction record notingthat this device has been “lost.” Additionally, it adds the e-Slate IDchange transaction for student “X” so that new serial number “9009” isassociated with student “X”. The licensing entity cross-indexes serialnumber “1001” to “9009”. This is all done in accordance with step 2735.Next, in accordance with step 2740, school “A” takes the e-Slate serialnumber “9009” out of its available inventory. Then in accordance withstep 2745, e-Slate serial number “1001” is found at some other locationand is reported to the licensing authority. In accordance with step2750, the licensing authority looks up the identity of the “owner”associated with serial number “1001”. The search returns the data whichindicates that serial number “1001” has been assigned to student “X” atschool “A”. The licensing authority then creates a transaction recordwhich indicates that e-Slate serial number “1001” has been “found.”Next, in accordance with step 2755, school “A” swipes the barcode serialnumber “1001” as “received” and transfers an update to the licensingauthority which indicates that e-Slate serial number “1001” has been“received” at school “A”. Next, in accordance with step 2760, school “A”issues e-Slate serial number “1001” to student “Y” and transfers anupdate of the e-Slate reassignment to the licensing authority. Inaccordance with step 2765, the licensing authority updates its mastervalidation file in order to identify the reissuance of e-Slate serialnumber “1001” at school entity “A” to student “Y” and notes all otherappropriate information such as the time and date, the student's ID,address, and any other pertinent information. The process ends at step2790.

FIGS. 28A and 28B are graphical depictions of exemplary recordsmaintained in the master validation file 2800 of a licensing authority.As is shown, a number of fields are maintained. As is shown, the fieldsinclude the following fields: e-Slate serial number; time/date oftransaction; reporting entity ID; and transaction. As is shown, avariety of different types of transactions are identified in thisexemplary validation master file. The reporting entities include thelicensing authority, manufacturing plants, schools, and reportingentities. The types of transactions which are recorded include theissuance of serial numbers, and the recordation of serial numbers intoprogrammable read only memory (PROM), the manufacture of a device, theshipment of a unit, the receipt of a unit, the identity of the unitissued to a particular student, the report of a lost device, the reportof a replacement of a lost device, the report of a found unit, theshipment of units between entities, the receipt back into inventory ofavailable units, the transfer of a student, the graduation of a student,the recordation of biographic or biometric information, the occurrenceof an attempt at false registration, and information related to thesafety of a student.

FIG. 29 is a pictorial representation of a student's transaction records2900 in a licensing authority's master validation file. As is shown, anumber of fields are maintained in the student transaction record,including the following specific fields: local student ID; time/date oftransaction; reporting entity ID; and a transaction. As is shown, avariety of entities are reporting information including a variety ofschool entities, reporting entities, and the licensing authority. Thisstudent transaction record represents a record of all activity relatedto the e-Slate devices which have been related over time to particularstudents.

FIG. 30 is a pictorial representation of a school entity and IDstructure 3000. As is shown, a number of fields are maintained, eachrelating to three school entities (“A,” “B,” and “C”). As is shown, thefields include the following specific fields: student example, countrycode, state code, regional education service center, state districtcode, district campus code, and local student ID. The three exemplaryschool entities include two in the United States and one in Mexico. Moreparticularly, school entities “A” and “B” are located in the UnitedStates, while school entity “C” is located in Mexico City, Mexico. As isshown, several exemplary student records are shown.

Taken together, FIGS. 28A, 28B, 29, and 30 provide exemplary databaserecords relating to activities concerning a student and/or his issuede-Slate device. A variety of other types of records may be kept, butthese represent certain basic types of transactions or events which mustbe recorded or maintained in a database in order to ensure integrity inthe issuance and use of e-Slate devices.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particularembodiment, this description is not meant to be construed in a limitingsense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments as well asalternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to personsskilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention.It is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover anysuch modifications or embodiments that fall within the scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An education apparatus, comprising: (a) aportable unit issued to a student by a school, including at least: (1) arelatively small housing; (2) a touch-sensitive screen carried by saidrelatively small housing, dimensioned to generally correspond to apreselected page format; (3) a central processing unit and associatedmemory located in said relatively small housing for recording programsand data and for executing program instructions; (4) at least onebiometric reader system for securing selected data carried in saidmemory; (b) a cradle system for releasable electrically coupling to saidportable unit; (c) a school network, coupling through said cradle systemto said portable unit; (d) wherein said portable unit is operable in aplurality of modes of operation including: (1) a course book mode ofoperation wherein course materials are presented to said student throughsaid portable unit; (2) a homework mode of operation wherein homeworkexercises are assigned, presented, recorded, and returned throughcoordinated operation of said portable unit and said school network; (3)a school record mode of operation wherein school-related records aremaintained at least in part in said portable unit and at least in partin said school network; and (4) a home-to-school communication mode ofoperation wherein bi-directional communication is facilitated betweenparents of said student and school officials, including teachers,through coordinated operation of said portable unit and said schoolnetwork.
 2. An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidportable unit of said education apparatus further includes: (5) an audiooutput device carried by said relatively small housing for outputtingaudio messages.
 3. An education apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid portable unit of said education apparatus further includes: (5) amicrophone carried by said relatively small housing for receiving audioinput from at least one of said student and said student's parents. 4.An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unitof said education apparatus further includes: (5) a biometric on-buttonoperatively associated with said at least one biometric reader systemfor receiving instructions to change the operating state of saidportable unit, while simultaneously receiving biometric input data. 5.An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unitof said education apparatus further includes: (5) at least one uniqueidentifier relatively permanently associated with said portable unitincluding at least one of the following identifiers: a nameplate in ahuman-readable format, a serial number in a human-readable format, aserial number in a barcode readable format, an electronic recordation ofthe student's name, an electronic recordation of the serial numberassociated with said portable unit, an electronic recordation of atleast one biometric measurement which is uniquely associated with saidportable unit and operatively associated with said at least onebiometric reader system.
 6. An education apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said portable unit further includes: (5) a stylus releasablycarried by said relatively small housing.
 7. An education apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said portable unit further includes: (5) astylus with a plurality of stylus tips, with at least one tip utilizedfor touch-sensitive interaction with said touch-sensitive screen of saidportable unit, and at least one stylus tip adapted to allow said studentto mark on at least one relatively transparent overlay sheet adapted tobe registered with said touch-sensitive screen.
 8. An educationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unit furtherincludes: (5) a rechargeable power supply carried within said relativelysmall housing and utilized to provide electrical power to electricalpower consuming components carried by said relatively small housingincluding said central processing unit and said at least one biometricreader system when said portable unit is not cradled into said cradlesystem.
 9. An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidportable unit further includes: (5) a communication system carried bysaid relatively small housing adapted to allow at least one of wide areanetwork and local area network bidirectional communication withcommunicants remotely located from said portable unit.
 10. An educationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unit furtherincludes: (5) a handgrip aperture formed at a distal end of saidrelatively small housing adapted to be engaged by one hand of said userduring transporting said portable unit about.
 11. An education apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said portable unit further includes: (5)an external connection for releasable electrical connection to anexternal power source which at least supplements an internal batterypack carried by said portable unit.
 12. An education apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said portable unit further includes: (5) an externalmicrophone jack carried by said relatively small housing adapted toelectrically releasably engage with an external microphone.
 13. Aneducation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said portable unitfurther includes: (5) a headphone jack externally accessible from saidrelatively small housing and adapted to releasably electrically connectto an external headphone system.
 14. An education apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said portable unit further includes: (5) at least onecradle connection accessible from the exterior of said relatively smallhousing and adapted to releasably mechanically and electrically couplewith said cradle system when said portable unit is placed therein. 15.An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cradle systemincludes: (1) a plurality of electrical connections to allow peripheraldevices to electrically connect through said cradle system to saidportable unit, including at least one of the following peripheraldevices: an external keyboard, an external power supply system, anexternal battery charger, a video camera system, a CD/DVD system, anetwork interface system, a telephone modem, a universal serial busport.
 16. An education apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidcradle system facilitates the bidirectional communication of informationbetween said school network and said portable unit.
 17. An educationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein connection of said portable unitto said cradle system initiates a relatively automatic replication ofpredetermined datasets between said school network and databasesmaintained in said memory of said portable unit.
 18. An educationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said school network includes alocal area network hub which facilitates communication between saidportable unit and said school network.
 19. An education apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein said school network includes a local areanetwork hub which facilitates communication between said portable unitissued to said student and other portable units issued to schoolpersonnel through a data replication process which relativelyautomatically moves predetermined datasets between said portable unitsand said school network.
 20. An education apparatus according to claim1, wherein said school network maintains a plurality of databasesincluding at least one of the following databases: a teacher database,an administration database, a student database, a parent database, and abiometrics database.
 21. An education apparatus according to claim 1,wherein said school network includes means for displaying content on anelectrically actuable large format screen display.
 22. An educationapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said school network includes ameans for receiving and delivering audio information in a classroomenvironment.
 23. An education apparatus according to claim 1, whereinsaid school network further includes at least one network interfacewhich facilitates communication through at least one of a local areanetwork and a wide area network during education activities.
 24. Amethod of educating a student, comprising: (a) providing and issuing tosaid student by a school a portable unit, including: (1) a relativelysmall housing; (2) a touch-sensitive screen carried by said relativelysmall housing, dimensioned to generally correspond to a preselected pageformat; (3) a central processing unit and associated memory located insaid relatively small housing for recording programs and data and forexecuting program instructions; (4) at least one biometric reader systemfor securing selected data carried in said memory; (5) a cradle systemfor releasable electrically coupling to said portable unit; (b)providing a school network, and said network through said cradle systemto said portable unit; (c) presenting course materials to said studentduring a course book mode of operation wherein course materials arepresented to said student through said portable unit; (d) presentinghomework during a homework mode of operation wherein homework exercisesare assigned, presented, recorded, and returned through coordinatedoperation of said portable unit and said school network; (e) maintainingschool records during a school record mode of operation whereinschool-related records are maintained at least in part in said portableunit and at least in part in said school network; and (f) communicatingduring a home-to-school communication mode of operation whereinbi-directional communication is facilitated between parents of saidstudent and school officials, including teachers, through coordinatedoperation of said portable unit and said school network.
 25. A method ofeducating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unit of saideducation apparatus further includes: (6) an audio output device carriedby said relatively small housing for outputting audio messages.
 26. Amethod of educating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unit ofsaid education apparatus further includes: (6) a microphone carried bysaid relatively small housing for receiving audio input from at leastone of said student and said student's parents.
 27. A method ofeducating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unit of saideducation apparatus further includes: (6) a biometric on-buttonoperatively associated with said at least one biometric reader systemfor receiving instructions to change the operating state of saidportable unit, while simultaneously receiving biometric input data. 28.A method of educating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unitof said education apparatus further includes: (6) at least one uniqueidentifier relatively permanently associated with said portable unitincluding at least one of the following identifiers: a nameplate in ahuman-readable format, a serial number in a human-readable format, aserial number in a barcode readable format, an electronic recordation ofthe student's name, an electronic recordation of the serial numberassociated with said portable unit, an electronic recordation of atleast one biometric measurement which is uniquely associated with saidportable unit and operatively associated with said at least onebiometric reader system.
 29. A method of educating according to claim24, wherein said portable unit further includes: (6) a stylus releasablycarried by said relatively small housing.
 30. A method of educatingaccording to claim 24, wherein said portable unit further includes: (6)a stylus with a plurality of stylus tips, with at least one tip utilizedfor touch-sensitive interaction with said touch-sensitive screen of saidportable unit, and at least one stylus tip adapted to allow said studentto mark on at least one relatively transparent overlay sheet adapted tobe registered with said touch-sensitive screen.
 31. A method ofeducating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unit furtherincludes: (6) a rechargeable power supply carried within said relativelysmall housing and utilized to provide electrical power to electricalpower consuming components carried by said relatively small housingincluding said central processing unit and said at least one biometricreader system when said portable unit is not cradled into said cradlesystem.
 32. A method of educating according to claim 24, wherein saidportable unit further includes: (6) a communication system carried bysaid relatively small housing adapted to allow at least one of wide areanetwork and local area network bidirectional communication withcommunicants remotely located from said portable unit.
 33. A method ofeducating according to claim 24, wherein said portable unit furtherincludes: (6) a handgrip aperture formed at a distal end of saidrelatively small housing adapted to be engaged by one hand of said userduring transporting said portable unit about.
 34. A method of educatingaccording to claim 24, wherein said portable unit further includes: (6)an external connection for releasable electrical connection to anexternal power source which at least supplements an internal batterypack carried by said portable unit.
 35. A method of educating accordingto claim 24, wherein said portable unit further includes: (6) anexternal microphone jack carried by said relatively small housingadapted to electrically releasably engage with an external microphone.36. A method of educating according to claim 24, wherein said portableunit further includes: (6) a headphone jack externally accessible fromsaid relatively small housing and adapted to releasably electricallyconnect to an external headphone system.
 37. A method of educatingaccording to claim 24, wherein said portable unit further includes: (6)at least one cradle connection accessible from the exterior of saidrelatively small housing and adapted to releasably mechanically andelectrically couple with said cradle system when said portable unit isplaced therein.
 38. A method of educating according to claim 24, whereinsaid cradle system includes: (1) a plurality of electrical connectionsto allow peripheral devices to electrically connect through said cradlesystem to said portable unit, including at least one of the followingperipheral devices: an external keyboard, an external power supplysystem, an external battery charger, a video camera system, a CD/DVDsystem, a network interface system, a telephone modem, a universalserial bus port.
 39. A method of educating according to claim 24,wherein said cradle system facilitates the bidirectional communicationof information between said school network and said portable unit.
 40. Amethod of educating according to claim 24, wherein connection of saidportable unit to said cradle system initiates a relatively automaticreplication of predetermined datasets between said school network anddatabases maintained in said memory of said portable unit.
 41. A methodof educating according to claim 24, wherein said school network includesa local area network hub which facilitates communication between saidportable unit and said school network.
 42. A method of educatingaccording to claim 24, wherein said school network includes a local areanetwork hub which facilitates communication between said portable unitissued to said student and other portable units issued to schoolpersonnel through a data replication process which relativelyautomatically moves predetermined data sets between said portable unitsand said school network.
 43. A method of educating according to claim24, wherein said school network maintains a plurality of databasesincluding at least one of the following databases: a teacher database,an administration database, a student database, a parent database, and abiometrics database.
 44. A method of educating according to claim 24,wherein said school network includes means for displaying content on anelectrically actuable large format screen display.
 45. A method ofeducating according to claim 24, wherein said school network includes ameans for receiving and delivering audio information in a classroomenvironment.
 46. A method of educating according to claim 24, whereinsaid school network further includes at least one network interfacewhich facilitates communication through at least one of a local areanetwork and a wide area network during education activities.